COMET C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) or K2 for short across Planet Earth. This is a very rare natural phenomenon, because it is not known when Comet K2 will pass Earth again.
A researcher from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) and Coordinator of the Kupang National Observatory Management Center (BPON), Abdul Rachman, said Comet C/2017 K2 (PanSTARRS) thought to originate from a location in the outer solar system called the Oort Cloud.
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The initial C of the comet is non-periodic, the number 2017 indicates the year it was discovered, and the combination of letters and numbers K2 indicates the order in which it was discovered in 2017.
“This comet passes closest to Earth on July 13, 2022 at a distance of approximately 2 times the distance from Earth to the sun. Currently K2 is heading its closest distance to the sun which is expected to occur in December this year,” said Abdul Rachman in his official statement received MNC PortalMonday (25/7/2022).
“Because it belongs to the non-periodic comet group, K2 does not routinely pass near Earth like periodic comets such as Halley’s Comet, which has a period of approximately 83 years, so it is not known when it will pass near Earth again,” he added.
He revealed that K2 was discovered by a comet monitoring system called the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (PanSTARRS) located in Hawaii on May 21, 2017. This comet is thought to have originated from the Oort Cloud, which is a collection of objects in the outermost part from the Solar System.
The appearance of Comet K2 as it passes closest to Earth displays a tail of dust and gas. The closer to the sun, the gas tail will be seen more clearly.
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“When passing close to Earth, K2 can only be seen with a telescope, especially because it coincides with the full moon. However, as the comet gets closer to the sun, it will be visible with binoculars. All areas on the Earth’s surface have the opportunity to see the comet. on a clear night,” he said.
“We can observe K2 for several months especially as the comet passes near Earth, on its way to its closest point to the sun, and for several months after that,” he explained.
Abdul Rachman explained, related to the phenomenon of comets passing through the earth, through research it can be studied the possibility of the comet falling to earth.
In the case of K2, the comet crossed the earth at a distance of more than 270 million kilometers so that it had no impact on the earth. Then because it passes quite far from Earth, which is approximately 2 times the distance from the sun to Earth, there is no negative effect.
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“Observations of Comet K2 at BPON were carried out at the Operational Office and Science Center in Oelnasi Village for several days from July 13 to 16, 2022. Every day the observation was carried out for up to several hours. The data collected could not only be analyzed for research purposes, it could also be used for astrophotography,” he said.
“For observations used a telescope that uses a mirror measuring 25 centimeters and a CCD detector equipped with several color filters,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the Head of the Center for Space Research, Emanuel Sungging, said that the observational data could be used for research, not only by BRIN researchers, but also by all those interested in studying the dynamics of objects in the solar system.
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“From the observable embodiments of the two comet tails (dust and gas), an understanding can be obtained on the intrinsic properties of comets, as well as on how space weather conditions were at that time,” he explained.
“In addition, from the comet’s journey, at least until December 2022, it can be seen whether the comet ends its life by hitting the sun? Or continues its trajectory out of the solar system? So how will it travel then?” he continued.
The phenomenon of the passing of K2 is a good opportunity for scientists to observe this comet more closely and for astophotography activists to photograph it. Each comet has a uniqueness that is interesting to study scientifically and to capture its appearance through camera shots.
“The biggest hope from short observations like this is to provide insight and information to the Indonesian people, that the Indonesian people already have an astronomical observatory in the East Nusa Tenggara region that can be used for space research, together with BRIN,” he concluded.
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